Jadis's rise to power

[Peepiceek]

I have been promising for a long time to write up my account of how I think Jadis rose to power, so here it finally is. I am drawing from some ideas from previous discussions, principally in these three threads:
Cair Paravel
The Stone Table
Did the Winter last 100 years?

There are a large number of unanswered questions about what happens in the gap between TMN and LWW, and many things that are true in LWW that TMN does not explain. This has led me to conclude that Jadis’s rise to power must have been far more complex than simply her emerging out of the north and taking over. It must be much more political.

Some of the unanswered questions I am seeking to address are these:
- How does Jadis come to be regarded as human and as legitimate Queen? When and how does she gain the right of blood over traitors?
- Why was Cair Paravel built, why does it have four thrones, where did the prophecy come from? Why did Jadis neither reign in nor destroy Cair Paravel?
- Where did the Stone Table come from, what was its purpose, and why were traitors executed there?
- How come the Winter is later called the Hundred Year Winter, and yet Tumnus and Beaver can remember what happened before it?
- How come Tumnus and Beaver have never heard of humans in Narnia before?

The following account seeks to answer such questions. I will be interested to hear your thoughts and comments on my ideas. The dates I include are all speculative, and assume (as is traditional) that the Pevensies enter Narnia in the Year 1000.

********************

Year 1: The creation of Narnia began at the hill of the Stone Table. The stone there magically recorded the words of the Deep Magic in an ancient pre-Narnian language. Aslan journeyed around the dark, still, empty world, infusing the Magic into it. When he had reached the western edge of Narnia, he turned eastwards and began to sing his creative song. At around this point, the group from our world appeared in what would later become Lantern Waste. The Stone Table later becomes a shrine to Aslan, and is the place to which Aslan calls all the people when he comes to Narnia.

At the creation Jadis understands something of the Deep Magic that Aslan sings into the world, but cannot fully understand or control it. After she flees to the North, she starts to work out how the Magic of the Narnian world works, and begins to be able to use it for herself. She plots to turn Narnia into her new Charn.

Approx Year 200: The Tree of Protection planted at the beginning prevents Jadis from coming into Narnia. However, she begins to work to corrupt and recruit Narnians to her cause. She gets some to try to cut down the Tree of Protection. The first of these is caught and tried. Aslan condemns him to death for treachery, and he is executed on the Stone Table. At this time he explains something of what the Deep Magic means - that justice must be done and that traitors must die, otherwise nature will recoil and Narnia will be overturned in judgement.

Frank and Helen's children had married naiads and dryads; they became kings and queens of Narnia, Archenland and the Islands. As trade develops with the Islands, Narnia becomes a seaward-looking nation and a capital is set up at Cair Paravel to faciliate this. The castle is built.

Approx Year 500: After his early visits over the first few hundred years, Aslan no longer comes to Narnia (or at least, not openly - there are sometimes reports of his having appeared briefly to a few people, but never for a long period or to the whole country).

Jadis continues to plot against Narnia and strengthen her magic and to gain a following for herself in the Northern Lands. (Later scholars would dispute whether Jadis had planned the troubles of Narnia in detail and directly instigated them or whether Jadis was just lucky and took advantage of events. Almost certainly she was influencing events to some extent by propaganda from her followers infiltrating the Narnians and/or her using her magic to control weak-minded individuals within Narnia to do her will.)

Approx Year 700: One of the kings of Narnia marries a faun. There is dispute over whether his son will be 'human enough' to be the rightful king of Narnia. A succession crisis ensues. The leaders of the rebellion are executed, but discontent continues. The faun-man ruler governs harshly, due to his insecurity, and Narnia is troubled. During this time, a wise centaur (centaurs are the guardians of the Stone Table - the priests and prophets of the land) utters the prophecy:
"When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone
Sits at Cair Paravel in throne,
The evil time will be over and done."

Narnia descends into civil war. There are three main factions. The fauns dominate the south, and support the direct descendents of Frank and Helen, regardless of how human they are. The river gods dominate the east, and hold Cair Paravel; they insist that since Aslan had allowed Frank and Helen’s children to marry the water and wood gods, but said nothing about other creatures, anyone with alternative ancestry is excluded from the line of succession. The dwarves dominate the west; they seek self-government and oppose all human rule. In spite against the completing claimants for the throne (and perhaps unwittingly influenced by Jadis), the dwarves cut down the Tree of Protection.

Approx Year 800: Eventually, the war exhausts itself with no victor. All the likely claimants to the throne have been killed, so the three sides agree to a power-sharing deal, each nominating one representative to sit in council at Cair Paravel - a faun from the south, a river-god from the east and a dwarf from the west. In order to maintain the balance between them, they also agree to nominate a fourth member from the north who is neutral in the dispute, so they invite the Buffin family (giants from the north) to supply a member to the council too. Four thrones are put into Cair Paravel, with the members taking the title 'Lord Regent', and the Buffin member as 'Lord High Regent'.

It is an uneasy truce. Although there is general peace, mistrust and exploitation abound. During this time, another centaur, building on the earlier prophecy, prophesies that a day is coming when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve will arise and will sit on the thrones at Cair Paravel. When that happens, Aslan will return and all will be well again in Narnia. Evil leaders will be put to death.

[Continued below...]

 

[Peepiceek]

Approx Year 860: Jadis, meanwhile, seizes an opportunity to exert her own power in Narnia. She supports a rival giant clan against the Buffins, using her magic to overcome them. Narnia is forced to accept a new giant mediator as Lord High Regent.

Approx Year 890: Jadis builds a house in northern Narnia. Although Jadis makes no claim for herself, propaganda from her supporters claims that she is human and should be considered a claimant to the throne of Narnia. The dwarves agree to support her (in return for promises of power and prestige that she gives them). Meanwhile, her political opponents begin to disappear. Rumours circulate that Jadis has the power to turn people to stone, and that her house is filling up with statues of her opponents. However, no-one is sure what to believe.

Approx Year 900: Jadis moves to act as keeper of the peace in Narnia. She accuses the Faun Regent of plotting to invade Narnia from the south with support from Archenland, and has him executed for treason at the Stone Table. Meanwhile, new fortifications built at Cair Paravel are seen as an attempt by the river-gods to claim power again. Jadis has some leading easterners executed for treason as well. Finally, the Lord High Regent (a puppet of Jadis) proclaims that Jadis is human and is the rightful Queen of Narnia. She assumes the throne.

Jadis confounds the expectations of Narnians by remaining in her northern house rather than taking up residence in Cair Paravel. Her stated reason for this is that Cair Paravel is associated with division and bloodshed, and is no longer an appropriate capital. The real reasons are: firstly, that Cair Paravel is in the heart of territory that is opposed to her rule; secondly, that the prophecy that there should be two kings and two queens is still widely believed, especially in the south and east of Narnia, and she does not want a reminder of this by taking up residence in a castle that is filled with symbols of four-fold rule; and thirdly, that she feels a lingering Magic that is more powerful than hers hovers over Cair Paravel, because this is where Aslan always lands in Narnia, and she wants to stay away from it. Instead, she intends to control the country from her northern stronghold and to marginalise the place of Cair Paravel by propaganda, until such time as it is forgotten and she can destroy it, along with the Stone Table and Lantern Waste, the ancient magical sites of Narnia.

In order to secure her position, Jadis has a number of policy objectives. Firstly, she needs to eliminate all potential rival claimants to the throne. To do this, she kills or forces to flee every person with any human ancestry at all. She closes the border with Archenland - she would love to invade it too, but her power base just isn't strong enough in the south; instead, she posts border guards through the south of the country to prevent movement between Narnia and Archenland. She then initiates propaganda to deny that humans even exist at all, encouraging Narnian scholars to write books such as 'Is Man a Myth?' She also sets up a network of spies to catch any humans (the official line is that these people are only pretending to be human in order to gain power for themselves). It is claimed that 'humanity' is simply an invented ideal, and that no creature is really human. The Queen herself is the only person who encapsulates that ideal, but any other person who claims to do so is a traitor.

The second policy objective is to rid Narnia of its ancient magic and religion. Ancient magical festivals such as Christmas are abolished. Sacred dances at Dancing Lawn are forbidden - fauns are scattered through the country and forbidden even to approach Dancing Lawn. The religious functions of the Stone Table are abolished, and it becomes only a place of execution. The centaurs are banished to the southern mountains so that they cannot peddle the ancient religion or their prophecies. (However, many of the beasts remember the old stories and the prophecies, and pass them on to their children). Jadis’s magic makes the winters longer and deeper, especially in her heartlands of the north and west. The existence of Aslan himself is questioned, although most Narnians continue to believe in him. A folk-rhyme develops among the Narnian beasts of the north and west:
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”

Approx Year 975-980: Finally, Jadis seeks to impose her own magic on Narnia, and to make the population believe that hers is the only magic. Only once she has crushed opposition and removed the earlier Magic can she do this. She initiates a perpetual Winter, which covers the land in ice and snow. This Winter lasts for nearly a generation before the Pevensies arrive (Tumnus and Beaver can remember before the Winter), but propaganda is put out to convince the people that their 'memories' of past summers are simply dreams, and that this is the only world that ever has been or ever will be. Jadis's grip on power is ever-tightening when the Pevensies and Aslan arrive. She hopes soon to eradicate all memory of humans in Narnia, all memory of summer, Christmas or Aslan, to destroy Cair Paravel, the Stone Table and Lantern Waste. These are her next objectives, but they are to be thwarted by the events of LWW!

************

That’s my outline sketch of the story. Let me know what you think!

Peeps

 

[Mozart the Meerkitten]

That was quite interesting. I think that most of the things you mentioned are quite probable and I like how you dealt with how Jadis took over. It makes sense that something like a civil war would lead to her being able to take over and the whole thing sounds like, well, Narnia. Very well done.
(and it reminded me a bit of parts of the Silmarillion. It seemed like there were similar ideas in histories of worlds and such. Not that that's a bad thing, its just what it reminded me of.)

 

[Copperfox]

As backstory for his "Byron-on-Wells" tales, Evening Star speculated that the last pre-Jadis King of Narnia died childless, and indeed that he had been neglectful of the kingdom in other ways; this played a part in making Narnia vulnerable to the takeover.

It was a major weakness in Mr. Lewis' work that he DIDN'T settle how the kill-the-traitors rule began. As I observed long ago, it CAN'T have already existed when Jadis FIRST became active in the Narnian world--because in that case, EVERY Narnian being who joined Jadis' following would be a traitor to Aslan, and Jadis would be required to kill them as fast as they joined her, so she could never start an army. But your speculation about the traitor trying to fell the Tree of Protection is as good an explanation of the rule as any.

One thing: I don't think Mr. Lewis would ever have wanted it to be thought that humans in the Narnian world would be able to produce offspring with beings as different genetically from us as fauns. "River-gods" would be different from us, but on the occasion of a marriage they could at least have ASSUMED human form, which no faun could.

 

[tirian_son_of_erlian]

Wow. That's amazing! Well thought-out. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Very impressive! I love how you tied together the four thrones with North, South, East and West, especially with the High Regent of the North (later seated by High King Peter, associated with the north). Great job!

 

[Peepiceek]

Wow. That's amazing! Well thought-out. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Very impressive! I love how you tied together the four thrones with North, South, East and West, especially with the High Regent of the North (later seated by High King Peter, associated with the north). Great job!

Thanks. Glad you spotted that little link. I was quite pleased with it.

CF - Credit for the origin of the death-to-traitors rule goes to Evening Star, actually, from a previous thread. Surely those who fought on Jadis's side would not necessarily have been traitors to Narnia if they genuinely believed that this was the right thing for Narnia? But you're right that the reference in LWW does raise many more questions than it answers - like who decides whether the rule has been violated and how quickly the fire and water come as a result.

Peeps

 

[Benisse]

Hi Peeps, I really enjoyed reading your careful reconstruction -- Thanks for your thoughtful interaction with the texts. I'd be interested in what Evening Star has to say too since he has wrestled with these questions.

 

[MrBob]

I love that timeline, Peep. I do have a couple of issues.

She gets some to try to cut down the Tree of Protection. The first of these is caught and tried. Aslan condemns him to death for treachery, and he is executed on the Stone Table. At this time he explains something of what the Deep Magic means - that justice must be done and that traitors must die, otherwise nature will recoil and Narnia will be overturned in judgement.

Jadis explains the Deep Magic in LWW to Aslan (who agrees with her) that Jadis herself has the right to every traitor, not Aslan.

Regaqrding the Tree of Protection, I think this was why Jadis made it winter. In winter, the Tree was without leaves and was not as repelling to Jadis. After years of winter, it was sent deep into "herself" (I see the tree as a female) and stopped being repelling to Jadis. My story (that I still have to return to after I lost the last chapter in a computer incident) has Lucy and two children helping to awaken the Tree.

I don't see Aslan coming except for the times in the books (and of course my styory as well).

And with regards to the thrones, the East throne would have been the Highest as it was closest to Aslan's Country. That is why I liked it when Lucy was given the East in teh LWW movie. She was closest to Aslan.

MrBob

 

[Peepiceek]

MrBob

I accept your points, though there are some possible responses.

Jadis explains the Deep Magic in LWW to Aslan (who agrees with her) that Jadis herself has the right to every traitor, not Aslan.

It could be that an authority is given that role, and maybe Jadis is appointed to that role. If it is given to Jadis herself, this must be by Aslan at a later point than TMN, thus negating your later point about Aslan not coming except in the books.

An alternative reconstruction could see Jadis in more of a Satan-type role, I suppose. Perhaps the destruction of the Tree is by Aslan as a judgement on some sin of the Narnians (a 'Fall'), and he then gives Jadis the power of accusation and the right of blood - which she then usurps as a right of rule.

Regaqrding the Tree of Protection, I think this was why Jadis made it winter. In winter, the Tree was without leaves and was not as repelling to Jadis. After years of winter, it was sent deep into "herself" (I see the tree as a female) and stopped being repelling to Jadis. My story (that I still have to return to after I lost the last chapter in a computer incident) has Lucy and two children helping to awaken the Tree.

I quite like that idea, but the Tree doesn't offer much protection from Jadis if she has the power to 'switch it off'.

I don't see Aslan coming except for the times in the books (and of course my styory as well).

I'm not sure about this. I get the feeling from Mr Beaver that Aslan has been several times before - I don't think his knowledge is based only on the creation. Also, Tumnus implies to Lucy that Aslan comes and goes relatively frequently.

And with regards to the thrones, the East throne would have been the Highest as it was closest to Aslan's Country. That is why I liked it when Lucy was given the East in teh LWW movie. She was closest to Aslan.

Perhaps. I chose the north as having priority for three reasons:
1) Because Jadis was from the north, so that gives her greater control when she sets up a puppet ruler;
2) Because the river-gods and are going to dominate at Cair Paravel, and also presumably live in the river and the mouth of the Great River is in the east (in fact, perhaps this is another reason to build Cair Paravel at the river mouth);
3) Because the film assigns the High King Peter to the north, so I wanted to have some historical basis for northern priority.

Peeps

 

[Animus Wyrmis]

I think that's an interesting and plausible theory, although the frustrating thing about the Narnia books is that we can never get closer than "plausible theory".

I have always thought that Frank and Helen's descendants in Narnia just slowly had the human bred out of them by generations of marrying river gods and dryads and the like. Perhaps that, combined with a growing period of isolation, led to a slow forgetting of what a human was, and that let Jadis proclaim herself one.

Alternatively, how seriously should we take Tumnus's books? Are these true scholarly books or are they propaganda put out by Jadis's people? In that case Tumnus "Is Man a Myth" may just be a set of talking points to confuse other animals; in any case, *he* knows humans are real.

 

[tirian_son_of_erlian]

Peep, do you have any thoughts on the time between the Golden Age and the Telmarine Subjugation? If so, I'm dying to know what they are!

 

[Peepiceek]

I think that's an interesting and plausible theory, although the frustrating thing about the Narnia books is that we can never get closer than "plausible theory".

It's partly frustrating, but that makes it fun as well!

Alternatively, how seriously should we take Tumnus's books? Are these true scholarly books or are they propaganda put out by Jadis's people? In that case Tumnus "Is Man a Myth" may just be a set of talking points to confuse other animals; in any case, *he* knows humans are real.

There needn't necessarily be a hard distinction between scholarly works and propaganda. Think about books promoting atheism in our own society, for example.

I'm not sure that Tumnus does *know* that humans exist. The existence of the book on his shelf at least suggests that there is doubt in his mind about the matter.

Peeps

 

[Peepiceek]

Peep, do you have any thoughts on the time between the Golden Age and the Telmarine Subjugation? If so, I'm dying to know what they are!

Not yet - and there are far fewer clues to be able to construct a story here. It's a much more straightforward invasion.

The only thing I would say is that I think the time gap between LWW and PC must be much longer than 1000 years - given my theory that the Stone Table dates back to the creation, that weathering of the letters hasn't been mentioned in LWW but is significant in PC, and there has also been time to build a Howe over it which is very ancient by the time of PC. This also leads me to wonder if there can really have been a 1000 year gap between TMN and LWW. Or maybe Doctor Cornelius is wrong about his belief that the Stone Table is the most ancient of the magical places of Narnia.

Peeps

 

[MrBob]

"If it is given to Jadis herself, this must be by Aslan at a later point than TMN, thus negating your later point about Aslan not coming except in the books."

This doesn't seem to be a position one can apply for. Since the authority came from the Deep Magic, It was "written" in three places according to Jadis: the "Table of Stone", "in letters deep as a spear is long on the fire-stones on the Secret Hill", "engraved on the scepter of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea" and she described it as Magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning." (ch 13, p 155 in my paperback box set edition).

"Perhaps the destruction of the Tree is by Aslan as a judgement on some sin of the Narnians (a 'Fall'),"

I don't see Aslan doling out that kind of punishment. That seems a bit too cruel for him. Aslan felt more like a heplful Creator, not someone that would punish everyone for the sins of the few (or even the many).

"the Tree doesn't offer much protection from Jadis if she has the power to 'switch it off'."

What did Jadis do in Charn? Looked for the Deplorable Word. I think she took a few centuries to find a kind of Deplorable Word in Narnia that would allow her to put the Tree in hibernation or kill it if you don't want to follow my story.

"I get the feeling from Mr Beaver that Aslan has been several times before -"

He doesnt really say much about when Aslan was there last. Just that he's "not here often" and ""never in my time or or my father's time" according to Senor Beaver. (ch. 8, p .85 same book)

MrBob

 

[Peepiceek]

"If it is given to Jadis herself, this must be by Aslan at a later point than TMN, thus negating your later point about Aslan not coming except in the books."

This doesn't seem to be a position one can apply for. Since the authority came from the Deep Magic, It was "written" in three places according to Jadis: the "Table of Stone", "in letters deep as a spear is long on the fire-stones on the Secret Hill", "engraved on the scepter of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea" and she described it as Magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning." (ch 13, p 155 in my paperback box set edition).

Well, since we don't know the precise wording of the Deep Magic, it's an open question as to whether it gave Jadis personally the rights over traitors or whether her right is an interpretation or logical consequence of the Deep Magic.

How do you square Jadis getting this power with the story in TMN?

"Perhaps the destruction of the Tree is by Aslan as a judgement on some sin of the Narnians (a 'Fall'),"

I don't see Aslan doling out that kind of punishment. That seems a bit too cruel for him. Aslan felt more like a heplful Creator, not someone that would punish everyone for the sins of the few (or even the many).

I tend to agree, but if the Narnia Chronicles are seen to be a Christiant allegory then this idea is not implausible - the Tree of Protection could be somehow parallel to the Tree of Life in Genesis, from whose presence Adam was excluded by God as a punishment for his sin.

"the Tree doesn't offer much protection from Jadis if she has the power to 'switch it off'."

What did Jadis do in Charn? Looked for the Deplorable Word. I think she took a few centuries to find a kind of Deplorable Word in Narnia that would allow her to put the Tree in hibernation or kill it if you don't want to follow my story.

Fair point.

"I get the feeling from Mr Beaver that Aslan has been several times before -"

He doesnt really say much about when Aslan was there last. Just that he's "not here often" and ""never in my time or or my father's time" according to Senor Beaver. (ch. 8, p .85 same book)

I agree that he isn't clear on the matter; but it does seem to imply that he has been there since the creation.

Peeps

 

[tirian_son_of_erlian]

Well what do you think happened once the Pevensies hunted the white stag and vanished out of Narnia? Did Narnia not have a king or queen after that? How soon after their departure before the Telmarines invaded? I like how the movie suggested the Telmarines attacked Cair Paravel. I didn't see it as particularly contradictory to the novel.

 

[Peepiceek]

The book really doesn't give us any clue. My guess would be that an Archenlander royal would be invited to become King of Narnia. That said, Doctor Cornelius says that there were very few men in Narnia when Caspian I invaded, so we may wonder what might have happened to them.

I liked the idea of an attack on Cair Paravel too, although it is on the wrong side of the country. Also, I think the woods must probably have started growing up before the Telmarines arrived (more on that later).

In terms of timescale, the Stone Table weathering issue has always made me feel that we are looking at 1500-2000 years. That said, I've just been looking at what LWW and PC say about the weathering. All it says is this: "a stone table ... covered with wha had once been writing of some kind: but ages of wind and rain and snow had almost worn them away in old times when the Stone Table had stood on the hilltop, and the Mound had not yet been built above it." LWW says nothing (as far as I can see ) directly about the writing, except the Witch's passing reference, "Tell you what is written on the Table of Stone which stands beside us?" Maybe it was already deeply weathered, which would undermine my claim for a longer timescale. The other things that might impinge on age are that Doctor Cornelius says that Aslan's How is "a huge mound which Narnians raised in very ancient times" (emphasis added), and Edmund saying of the carvings on the wall, "Don't they look old?"

It would probably have been most natural to build the How at a time when there was fear that the ancient religion might die out, probably at a time of trouble when Narnians looked back to a Golden Age which was recent enough to be the defining event of Narnian history in their minds but distant enough that there was fear that succeeding generations might forget it. Let's suppose that there was a time of trouble some one or two, perhaps three, centuries after the Pevensies left, and this is when the How was built. But the How itself must be at least 800 to 1000 years old, I feel, by the time of PC.

There is also the question of how long Cair Paravel itself would have remained recognisable with woods growing around it. Also, I don't know how long apple trees would continue to grow naturally, so that might be a limiting factor on timescale.

I have always felt that the text implies an unbroken line of Caspians from Caspian I to Caspian X (except for Miraz's rule, obviously). Admittedly, it doesn't state this, so I might be wrong. However, if correct, this implies that the Telmarines had been in Narnia for about 300 years. I feel the woods are probably older than this - though not much, perhaps, as the text suggests a conscious or semi-conscious policy by the Telmarines of letting the woods grow up to conceal the magical places.

Actually, having now written it, I am less certain of any of the suggestions I have made above than ever before. But those are some developing ideas and questions to ponder.

Peeps

 

[MrBob]

"How do you square Jadis getting this power with the story in TMN?"

Jadis was there, listening to Aslan's song in the darkness of the beginning. Her name could have been sung into being the person in charge of traitors.

"if the Narnia Chronicles are seen to be a Christiant allegory then this idea is not implausible - the Tree of Protection could be somehow parallel to the Tree of Life in Genesis, from whose presence Adam was excluded by God as a punishment for his sin."

Adam and Eve were banished from Eden, where The Tree of Life was. Adam and Eve got the death sentence. Why would Aslan condemn the Tree for the crimes of others?

"How soon after their departure before the Telmarines invaded?"

tirian, it would depend on how long you believe the pirates and their wives came into Telmar in Narnian time. The Telmarine ancestors began with 12 people, six men and six women (assuming six women--one wife for each man). From twelve, it would take a long time for there to be enough people for a conquering army. The "official" timeline has about 1,500 years between entry in Telmar and conquest of Narnia and then roughly three hundred years of rulw in Narnia. I see no issues with those numbers.

However, the fact that there were few men in Narnia may mean that hundreds of years passed with either no leader or a figurehead leader from Archenland ie Narnia became a protectorate of Archenland and Cair Paravel was not used as it was decided that only the rightful king or queen of Narnia would reside there. Over the years, the Castle fell into disrepair.

Another possibility for why Cair Paravel was destroyed is that there was a civil war between facions of Narnans that destroyed Cair Paravel. If done by sea, it could have been a faction not friendly with Archenland. Galma, Terabinthia, or the Seven Isles of the North who then attacked from the sea.

MrBob

 

[Peepiceek]

"How do you square Jadis getting this power with the story in TMN?"

Jadis was there, listening to Aslan's song in the darkness of the beginning. Her name could have been sung into being the person in charge of traitors.

I'm not convinced by this.

1) Why would Aslan suddenly give that power to a malign force that had just appeared from another world?

2) If that were in the song, and Jadis understood it, why would her response be to turn and run?

Peeps

 

[Peepiceek]

tirian, it would depend on how long you believe the pirates and their wives came into Telmar in Narnian time. The Telmarine ancestors began with 12 people, six men and six women (assuming six women--one wife for each man). From twelve, it would take a long time for there to be enough people for a conquering army. The "official" timeline has about 1,500 years between entry in Telmar and conquest of Narnia and then roughly three hundred years of rulw in Narnia. I see no issues with those numbers.

Actually, there's no need for it to take that long. Let's assume that on average each couple has four surviving children, then the population would double every 30 years; they could have a population of 100,000 within 500 years, quite enough to support a significant army in a medieval culture.

Peeps